Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accidents have received much attention recently, but most attempts to address them have concentrated on making flight crews more aware of terrain. However, a study of recent accidents suggests that many are caused by factors unrelated to flight crew awareness of terrain. Many such accidents are near airports, where conventional terrain avoidance/warning systems are ineffective due to the inherent lower altitude of the plane required for landing. In one example, a wrong descent mode is thought to have been selected. While the crew selected a parameter for a flight path angle, it was applied to a vertical speed mode of descent. The parameter was too great for such a mode, likely causing the accident. In a further example, it was not realized that a first officer's Flight Director was still selected and the autoflight system was following Flight Director guidance. In one more example, a crew failed to retract speedbrakes when attempting to climb out of a canyon.